Following an alleged incident at last month’s SYNOID party, Revier Südost closed its doors to address accusations of racism and homophobia leveled towards its staff. At least four more allegations of similar behavior have now come to light, prompting the Berlin club to commit to implementing changes in its training programs.
The initial accusation came from Nicholas Rose, an American ballet dancer who alleged being ejected from the club following a “vicious personal attack” in an Instagram post that has since been deleted. A new Resident Advisor report details four more testimonies from 2019-2021, one of which allegedly took place at RSO’s former incarnation, Griessmuehle.
Among them is an account given by DJ Wells, a friend of Rose’s who also attended the August 15th SYNOID gathering. He alleged that a bouncer “shoved his fingers” into Wells’ back after he lowered his mask to talk to a friend, and that aggressive enforcement of the mask mandates continued after that point.
American singer Sedric Perry recounted having experienced similar behavior from RSO’s staff – ironically during an October 2020 event featuring panel talks on racial equality. Following one discussion, he said that a staff member found him and other panelists standing and talking in the green room and said, “What the fuck are you guys doing? Why the fuck are you standing here in the middle of the doorway?”
Yann Mathan reported having been cornered in a bathroom stall by bouncers after they shoved the door into his back following a July 2021 event. He alleged that they accused him of being a drug dealer and took photos of him with their cell phones before threatening to call the police. Mathan said he then told them he would call the police himself, at which point they allowed him to leave.
A former Griessmuehle promoter who spoke to Resident Advisor on the condition of anonymity alleged that staff accused a Black man of being a drug dealer at a 2019 party but found no drugs when they strip searched him in the bathroom. The promoter also said that bouncers often IDed attendees of color upon entry although “no other clubs do that.”
Resident Advisor reports that Revier Südost’s team emailed a statement acknowledging that “recent incidents made it clearly evident that we were not meeting our own standards in every area of our club.” It said that new diversity and conflict resolution training had been initiated, and that music industry DEI trainer Lindi Delight had been enlisted to aid in the process. The club also hired celebrity bouncer Smiley Baldwin to reorganize the security team.
Revier Südost has yet to announce when it will reopen at the time of writing.
